Enoteca Vin Restaurant in Raleigh again offered special reserve wines by the 3-oz. pour (normally only sold by the bottle.) These were in the extra-special category so instead of 3 ounces for $10 or $15 the price was $25 per selection and only one bottle of each was available.

By the time I got there on Friday the 1985 J.L. Chave Hermitage Rouge was gone as was the 1995 Mortet Chambertin (I was disappointed not to get to try the Chambertin.) Remaining were an Alsace Gewurztraminer, two white Burgundies from Batard-Montrachet, a Clos de Vougeot and a Clos de Beze (substitute for the Chambertin), a Brunello, a Chateauneuf de Pape and another Rhone to substitute for the Hermitage. It would have been fun to compare the two 1999 Batard-Montrachet (one from Ramonet and one from Leflaive) but I determined to limit myself to three wines because of cost ($75 for the wine alone plus dinner, tax and tip) and the need to drive back to Fayetteville without being under the influence. The Alsace wine is posted under that thread.

I went with the two Red Burgundy choices for my wines to accompany the entree (duck confit stuffed in Swiss chard, seared slices of duck breast topped with currants.)

1996 MORTET CLOS DE VOUGEOT
Deep ruby color, bubbles around the rim when poured, rather opaque. Concentrated bouquet of dark mashed cherries and perhaps a hint of herbs. More silky than velvety in texture with soft grainy tannins and tart cherry finish. Some viscosity. Comes across as a Grand Cru wine.

1997 JADOT CLOS DE BEZE Deep garnet color. A little less dark and dense than the Clos de Vougeot. Cherry pie filling on the nose. More pronounced cherry flavor than the Clos de Vougeot. It makes me reflect again how amazing it is that grapes can be so cherry-like! (or so grapefruit-like, apple-like, mushroom-like, meaty, etc.). Both wines paired well with the duck dish. I saved a few swallows of each to try with a serving of Pecorino cheese which came with dried cherries. The flavor of the dried cherries matched really closely to the Clos de Beze.